Learn the secrets of wood refinishing – Expert tips you can’t miss!
In woodworking and the decorative arts, refinishing refers to the act of repairing or reapplying the wood finishing on an object.
In practice, this may apply to the paint or wood finish top coat, lacquer or varnish. The artisan or restorer is traditionally aiming for an improved or restored and renewed finish. Refinishing can apply to a variety of surfaces and materials such as wood, glass, metal, plastic and paint, although in Britain, when referring to wood or wooden furniture it is commonly known as repolishing – short for re-French Polishing. There are a great variety of both traditional and modern finishes, including the use of faux finishes. One interesting modern development in refinishing is the art of distressing or antiquing, making the finishes of pieces look older. While refinishing is often undertaken to salvage an old piece of furniture, in the case of antique furniture refinishing has been known to reduce the overall value of the piece significantly.
[Refinishing. (2017). From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refinishing.]
In the pictures below you can see different photographs of the same door. The picture to the left was taken before refinishing the door. The picture to the right was taken after refinishing the door. The door itself is a beautiful handcrafted wood door in a historic brick home in Capitol Hill, DC.
This process used a light sanding to remove ultraviolet (UV) and weather damaged surface layer finishes applied years ago. In cases of more significant weather damage and aging, wood may need to be deeply sanded and then have additional coats of stain and wood sealer applied. A complete restoration can be arduous and time consuming because of both the multiple steps in the process which each require dry times, and because of the amount of complexity of the architectural details. In this case there is a relatively high level of detail because the door was hand carved.
